Diane Wolf died Jan. 10 and the obituary appeared yesterday. I could hardly believe it. She was 53. I have been out of touch with her for a decade or so, but I always thought of her fondly. She was a hobby pioneer.

It was Wolf who laid the groundwork in Washington, D.C., for the current circulating coinage renaissance that we are all enjoying. State and territories quarters, new nickels in 2004-2006, Sacagawea and Presidential dollars and even the Mint administrative philosophy of running itself as a business all have roots in Wolf's advocacy of changing circulating coin designs.

She conducted her campaign first from her membership on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which advises the Treasury secretary on coin designs.

I had a ringside seat and helped her all I could. The effort was conceived in late 1986 after she had made some remarks at a Fine Arts Commission meeting that I and others interpreted as being favorable to coinage redesign, a goal collectors have held for many years.

I asked Paul Green to interview her. He did. He had a political background as well as a coin background. He knew how Washington worked. He and Diane hit it off. He did all he could to help her.

The interview was great. I talked to Cliff Mishler and asked him if Numismatic News could support Wolf in the effort to change coin designs. He agreed. We launched the newspaper campaign in early 1987.

We started out advocating changing both sides of each circulating coin denomination in sequence, but the realities of politics suggested retaining obverse designs and changing reverse designs only.

This has been the template used on quarters and nickels ever since, and soon Sacagawea dollars.

Wolf persuaded the Senate to back the concept but it always foundered in the House of Representatives. Wolf rubbed Frank Annunzio, the longtime coinage czar, the wrong way. Such is politics.

Ultimately new people, new elected representatives, a new Mint director and new political realities in Washington brought all of the elements into proper alignment.

Wolf could not claim to be the author of what happened, but without her persuading all coin collectors to think it was possible again to have new designs, little or nothing would have happened ever.

Imagine a hobby without state quarters, Lewis and Clark nickels, Sacagawea and Presidential dollars. It would be a much duller place.

About the Author David C. Harper has been a coin collector since 1963. He joined the Krause Publications editorial staff in 1978 and is currently editor of Numismatic News and World Coin News. He also edits two books annually, North American Coins & Prices and Coin Digest. He is the author of the Class of '63 column that runs each week in Numismatic News. His first bylined numismatic article appeared in the June 1971 issue of Coins Magazine and his various Krause Publications assignments included a stint as editor of the magazine 1980-1983. Harper received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1977. He had a double major of journalism and economics.